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Officials: TMI closure would have major impact on everyone’s taxes

Closure of Three Mile Island would hit many area residents financially, even if they don’t have family who work at the nuclear plant.

TMI provides a combined $1 million a year in property taxes paid to local governments, school districts and Dauphin County.

Of that $1 million, $700,000 a year in property taxes goes to Lower Dauphin School District, said district spokesman Jim Hazen. TMI is the school district’s second largest employer and the district’s second largest payer of property taxes — behind just the Hollywood Casino in both categories, Hazen said.

If that $700,000 in property taxes was gone tomorrow, it would cost every property owner in the school district assessed at $100,000 another $43 a year in taxes to make up the difference, Hazen said.

TMI is located in Londonderry Township. Manager Steve Letavic called the announcement of a potential closure “just devastating” for Londonderry as well as the region.

Londonderry receives $37,000 in property taxes annually from TMI, and TMI donates $50,000 a year to organizations in the area. In addition to that, the local service tax is about $72,000 a year and Londonderry’s earned income tax revenue is a little more than $600,000.

“Earned income and local services taxes are tied to jobs in our township, so if we lose the largest employer, we would lose or could lose those dollars.”

As Letavic referenced, TMI is the largest single employer of Londonderry residents, and one of the biggest in Dauphin County. Because of that, Londonderry officials will take a multi-pronged approach in trying to preserve TMI, but at the same time, plan for the worse.

Letavic said it’s too soon to say what the solution might be.

"We want to do everything we can,” Letavic said adding how he doesn't see any other company coming in to replace TMI and providing the same benefits to both people and property.

Letavic said other towns in Pennsylvania in the past were tied to a product such as coal or steel, and when those towns’ mines or factories were shuttered, the towns went with them.